Although peptides are already often used in cosmetics or the pharmaceutical industry, their unused potential is even greater. Their expensive and complex production however, has limited their application possibilities thus far. The Düsseldorf start up Numaferm has developed a new tool to remedy the situation. CEO Philipp Bürling is convinced the new Numaferm technology that was developed by his business partner Christian Schwarz will significantly reduce the production costs of peptides.

Plant diseases and pests are a plague for farmers and hobby gardeners all around the world. With her ‘Plantix’ app, Simone Strey from Hanover-based start-up PEAT is now offering a novel form of support for self-help. From the photos provided by users, the software not only identifies pest infestation and nutrient deficiency in plants, but also provides advice on how to deal with disease or parasites. The geobotanist Strey and her team were honoured with the ‘Innovation Award 2017’ at this year's CeBit, the world’s biggest digital fair.

In Germany, 11 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year. With their dumplings made from old, hardened and unsold bread, Janine Trappe and her team at Knödelkult are taking a stand against such wastefulness. The dumpling makers from Constance have already saved more than 1,700 bread loaves from untimely disposal.

Insects can be delicious. At least, this is the opinion of Christopher Zeppenfeld and his team at SWARM. With the first fitness bar with a main ingredient of crickets, the founder and managing director of the start-up SWARM Protein is aiming to break down longstanding reservations towards insect-based food.

In the global search for alternatives to oil-based fuels, the scientific community is focusing increasingly on renewable raw materials. While the automotive industry is gradually offering more eco-friendly models, the aviation industry is lagging behind. In the DropIn Biofuels project at the Technical University of Darmstadt, microbiologist Johannes Kabisch and his team are working on a new generation of biofuels that could help reduce the emissions caused by aviation.

New breakthroughs in science occur almost daily. Many of them would be very useful to further a more sustainable economy and to provide food and shelter for a growing population. However, customarily, new results are published in scientific journals and many of those charge expensive subscription fees to researchers, universities, and interested readers around the world.

It’s a worn-out cliché: A woman standing in front of her packed wardrobe, complaining that there’s nothing in it she could wear. However, if the skin of the woman (or man) is extremely sensitive and is in fact allergic to many fabrics, most clothing stores do indeed not offer any wearable options. Sabine Schmidt knows this problem all too well, she herself has been suffering from severe neurodermatitis for years. Appropriate clothing is of the upmost importance under these circumstances, as inferior or chemically treated material worsens potential skin irritations.

There are still many places in the world where people have to live without electricity. Until recently, the Senegal was one of those places – until Heidi Schiller and her family business KAITO Projekt GmbH and their small solar panels literally brought light to the villages in West-Africa. Now Schiller is focusing on a new project at the same location: SENtypha.